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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2019)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, June 26, 2019 A3 Zero Suicide approach to be expanded at CCS By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The benefi ts of imple- menting the Zero Suicide program might soon be seen across all of Community Counseling Solutions’ men- tal health and health pro- grams, executive director Kimberly Lindsay told the Grant County Court on June 12. The Zero Suicide program calls for evidence-based pol- icies and treatments, quality assurance to ensure policies and treatments are being implemented correctly and a higher level of train- ing to ensure all employees understand the policies and treatments. Lindsay said the CCS board has made a commit- ment to implementing the Zero Suicide approach to mental health and health programs. When asked about Grant County’s rank- ing for suicide numbers among Oregon counties, Lindsay didn’t mince words. “Grant County is off the charts,” she said. In an update on CCS’s contract to oversee the Grant County Health Department, Lindsay provided the results of a CCS customer survey for Grant, Wheeler-Gilliam and Morrow counties. The staff here is doing a stand-up job, she said. The Eagle/Richard Hanners From left, environmental health inspector John Combs and Community Counseling Solutions Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay listen to Grant County Court discussion on June 12. CCS received about $430,000 from Medicaid through Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. for September-November 2018, which was about 26% less than claims. Lindsay noted that it was important to spend every dollar received from Medicaid so as not to lose funding the next year. Lindsay complimented Jessica Winegar, the county health department man- ager, for her grant writing, but noted that the Healthy Smiles Dental Clinic contin- ued to struggle. Dr. Michael Desjardin comes to the clinic in the health department build- ing about once every few months. Advantage Dental handles patients using the Oregon Health Plan but no longer has a dentist at the John Day offi ce. Commissioner Jim Ham- sher stressed the impor- tance of dental health and urged Lindsay to pursue more grants. Both he and Commissioner Sam Palmer recounted personal stories about people impacted by poor dental health. Lindsay explained the diffi culty of pursuing grants for continuing programs as opposed to new ones. The dental clinic was being funded through the county’s general fund because state funds were not available, she said. Lindsay said she wasn’t sure about the future of grant funding for the dental clinic. There is no new fund- ing for public health and no increase in funding for core services, but costs continue to increase, she said. In a related matter, Lind- say explained why environ- mental health fees needed to be increased for inspections at bed and breakfast busi- nesses, restaurants, motel spas and pools, RV parks, picnic grounds and other places. Annual fees in Grant and Harney counties have not been raised since 2012, she said, and the Legislature is currently considering a bill that would establish new marker fees for environ- mental health. Regardless of the bill’s outcome, the fees needed to be increased to cover the costs of pro- viding inspections across a large geographical area, she said. Court adopts new jail search policy By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Court adopted a new property search and inventory policy for the county jail on June 12 that brings it into compli- ance with a state appellate court ruling. The Oregon State Court of Appeals in 2018 found the inventory policy at the county jail to be uncon- stitutional in the case of a John Day man found to be in possession of methamphetamine. Methamphetamine had been found on the man by an Oregon State Police trooper following accept- able search policy, and the man was transferred to the county jail. During a court hear- ing on the drug charge, the defense counsel asked Dep- uty Pete DeRosier, who worked at the jail, “if there was, say, a fi lm canister or something in a pocket, you would open that and look in it?” DeRosier responded, “Absolutely.” The defense argued on appeal that the inevita- ble discovery doctrine did not justify admission of the methamphetamine evi- dence “because the Grant County Jail inventory pol- icy impermissibly autho- rizes searches of all closed containers” — even though the defendant did not have a closed container on him when searched. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter told the Eagle later that the jail policy needed to be changed to address the issue. The new policy states that all property brought to the county jail by an inmate, or received from the arresting agency as belonging to the inmate, will be thoroughly searched, and “closed con- tainers of any kind, designed to or objectively likely to contain valuables will be searched.” In other county court news, Commissioner Jim Hamsher warned about the possibility utilities in Oregon might declare power outages when red fl ag warnings have been issued. He cited the case of Pacifi c Gas & Electric, the largest power company in California, which recently implemented the contro- versial practice in Northern California, cutting off elec- trical power to 27,000 cus- tomers in fi ve counties out of concern that sparks from its power lines could ignite wildfi res. PG&E fi led for Chap- ter 11 bankruptcy protec- tion in January as investiga- tors looked into the cause of last fall’s Camp Fire — the deadliest fi re in California history, which killed 86 peo- ple and wiped out the city of Paradise. Since the time of the Camp Fire, three-quarters of PG&E’s market value has disappeared. The com- pany was cleared of fault for deadly fi res in Califor- nia wine country in 2017, but some reports blame PG&E transmission lines for wildfi res. Hamsher was concerned that, if the Oregon Trail Elec- trical Cooperative adopted a similar policy, residents, businesses and public facili- ties in Grant County that rely on a steady power supply could be harmed, including hospitals, senior homes and emergency communications. He also noted that, if the county court objected and OTEC agreed not to imple- ment the policy, the county could be held liable for any deaths or damages resulting from a wildfi re started by a power transmission line. Frances Preston said she asked an OTEC offi cial about the issue after it was raised during OTEC’s annual membership meeting in John Day on May 4. She said she was reassured OTEC had no plans to implement a similar policy and suggested Ham- sher was overreacting. Judge Scott Myers noted that snags remain- ing from the 2015 Canyon Creek Complex fi re might still be threatening power lines. Hamsher and Myers agreed to speak to OTEC, Grant County Emergency Management Coordinator Ted Williams and the state Offi ce of Emergency Man- agement about the issue. The Eagle/Richard Hanners Grant County Economic Development Coordinator Allison Field addresses the court about a grant for the Heart of Grant County shelter project. The Eagle/Richard Hanners Kim Puckett is the new Grant County administrative assistant. A man wakes up in the morning after sleeping on an ADVERTISED BED, in ADVERTISED PAJAMAS. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710 Member Appreciation Day WE WANT TO CELEBRATE OUR AMAZING MEMBERS THAT MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITIES! Please come and join our staff for some BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs. FRIDAY JUNE 28th STARTS AT 11:30 AM END AT 1:30 PM Old West Federal Credit Union 650 W Main Street John Day, OR 97845 Every other Monday in John Day at Blue Mountain Hospital 170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311
